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David O. Selznick

David O. Selznick
Born David Selznick
May 10, 1902(1902-05-10)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died June 22, 1965 (aged 63)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Spouse(s) Irene Mayer Selznick (1930-1949)
Jennifer Jones (1949-1965)

David O. Events 1291 - Scottish Nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England. Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Irene Mayer Selznick ( April 2, 1907 - October 10, 1990) was an American Theatrical producer. Jennifer Jones (born March 2 1919 is an American actress. Biography Early life Jones was born Phylis Flora Isley in Selznick (May 10, 1902–June 22, 1965), was one of the iconic Hollywood producers of the Golden Age. Events 1291 - Scottish Nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England. Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. A film producer is a person who creates the conditions for making movies. He is best known for producing the epic blockbuster Gone with the Wind (1939) which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture. Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American dramatic - romantic - War film adapted from Margaret Mitchell 's 1936 "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Not only did Gone with the Wind gross the highest amount of money at the box office of any film ever (adjusted for inflation), but it also won seven additional Oscars and two special awards. Selznick also won the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award that same year. The Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award is awarded periodically at the Academy Awards ceremonies to "Creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high He would make film history by winning the Best Picture Oscar a second year in a row for Rebecca (1940).

Contents

Early years

Selznick was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of silent movie distributor Lewis J. Selznick and Florence A. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Lewis J Selznick ( May 2, 1870 - January 25, 1933) was a Jewish-Ukrainian-English-American Film producer. (Sachs) Selznick.

David O. Selznick's real name was simply David Selznick. It is sometimes claimed that the "O" stands for Oliver, but, in fact, the initial was an invention of his. The book Memo from David O. Selznick[1] starts with this autobiographical memoir:

I have no middle name. I briefly used my mother's maiden name, Sachs. I had an uncle, whom I greatly disliked, who was also named David Selznick, so in order to avoid the growing confusion between the two of us, I decided to take a middle initial and went through the alphabet to find one that seemed to me to give the best punctuation, and decided on "O".

Alfred Hitchcock made subtle reference to this in North by Northwest (1959), where Cary Grant's character Roger Thornhill uses the monogram ROT and says the O stands for "nothing". Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 North by Northwest ( 1959) is a suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and He also dressed the antagonist of Rear Window to look like Selznick. Rear Window is a Suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on Cornell Woolrich 's Short story It Had to Be Murder

He studied at Columbia University and worked as an apprentice in his father's company until his father went bankrupt in 1923. Columbia University is a private University in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. In 1926, Selznick moved to Hollywood and with his father's connections, got a job as an assistant story editor at MGM. He left MGM for Paramount Pictures in 1928, working there until 1931 when he joined RKO as Head of Production. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and Distribution company, based in Hollywood California. His years at RKO were fruitful and he guided many notable films there, including A Bill of Divorcement (1932), What Price Hollywood (1932) and King Kong (1933). King Kong is a landmark Black-and-white Adventure film about a gigantic Gorilla named " Kong " and how he is captured from While at RKO, he also gave George Cukor his big directing break. George Dewey Cukor ( July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an Academy Award -winning American Film director. In 1933 he returned to MGM to establish a second prestige production unit to parallel that of Irving Thalberg who was in poor health. Irving Grant Thalberg ( May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an Academy Award -winning American Film producer His blockbuster classics included Dinner at Eight (1933), David Copperfield (1935), Anna Karenina (1935) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935). Anna Karenina is a critically acclaimed 1935 drama film directed by Clarence Brown. A Tale of Two Cities is a 1935 film directed by Jack Conway and Robert Z

Selznick International Pictures

Despite his successes at MGM, Paramount, and RKO, Selznick was restless. He longed to be an independent producer and establish his own studio. In 1935 he realized that goal by forming Selznick International Pictures and distributing his films through United Artists. Selznick International Pictures was a Hollywood motion picture studio This article is about the film studio Previously it was affiliated with a cinema chain bearing its name now owned by Regal Entertainment Group. His successes continued with classics such as The Garden of Allah (1936), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), A Star Is Born (1937), Nothing Sacred (1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), Made for Each Other (1939), Intermezzo (1939) and, of course, his magnum opus, Gone with the Wind (1939). The Prisoner of Zenda is a 1937 Black-and-white Adventure film based on the Anthony Hope 's this is considered by many to be the definitive A Star Is Born ( 1937) is a romantic Drama film produced by David O Nothing Sacred ( 1937) is a Screwball comedy film made by Selznick International Pictures and distributed by United Artists. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a 1938 American Drama film directed by Norman Taurog. Intermezzo (also called Intermezzo A Love Story) ( 1939) is a Romantic film made in the USA by Selznick International Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American dramatic - romantic - War film adapted from Margaret Mitchell 's 1936 Beginning with The Garden of Allah, Selznick became an early champion of the three-strip Technicolor process, using it in a number of his productions. Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation

In 1940, he produced his second Best Picture Oscar winner in a row, Rebecca, the first Hollywood production for British director Alfred Hitchcock. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 Selznick had brought Hitchcock over from England, launching the director's American career. Rebecca was Hitchcock's only film to win Best Picture.

Later productions

After Rebecca, Selznick closed Selznick International Pictures and took some time off. His business activities included loaning out to other studios for large profits the high-powered talent he had under contract including Hitchcock, Ingrid Bergman, Vivien Leigh and Joan Fontaine. (ˈbærjman in Swedish but usually ˈbɝgmən in English (August 29 1915 &ndash August 29 1982 was a Swedish three-time Academy Award -winning and two-time Emmy Vivien Leigh Lady Olivier (5 November 1913 &ndash 8 July 1967 was an English actress. Joan Fontaine (born October 22, 1917) is an Academy Award -winning British Actress in American films He also developed film projects and sold the packages to other producers. In 1944 he returned to producing pictures with the huge success Since You Went Away, which he wrote. Since You Went Away is a 1944 Film distributed by United Artists. He followed that with the classic Spellbound (1945), as well as Portrait of Jennie (1948). Spellbound ( 1945) is a psychological mystery thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Portrait of Jennie is a 1948 Fantasy film based on the novella by Robert Nathan. In 1949, he co-produced the memorable Carol Reed picture The Third Man. The Third Man ( is an award-winning British Film noir directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli,

After Gone with the Wind, Selznick spent the rest of his career trying to top that landmark achievement. The closest he came was with Duel in the Sun (1946) featuring future wife Jennifer Jones in the role of the primary character Pearl. Duel in the Sun is a 1946 Western film, produced by David O Selznick, which tells the story of a Mestiza (half- Native American Jennifer Jones may refer to Jennifer Jones (actor (born 1919 eponym of Jennifer Robin Jones is an Academy Award-winning American actress With a huge budget, the film is renowned for its stellar cast, its sweeping cinematography and for causing all sorts of moral upheaval because of the then risqué script written by Selznick. And though it was a troublesome shoot with a number of directors, the film would turn out to be a major success. The film was the second highest grossing film of 1947 and turned out to be the first movie that Martin Scorsese would see, inspiring the director's career.

"I stopped making films in 1948 because I was tired", Selznick later wrote. "I had been producing, at the time, for twenty years . . . . Additionally it was crystal clear that the motion-picture business was in for a terrible beating from television and other new forms of entertainment, and I thought it a good time to take stock and to study objectively the obviously changing public tastes . . . . Certainly I had no intention of staying away from production for nine years. "[2] Selznick spent most of the 1950s obsessing about nurturing the career of his second wife Jennifer Jones. His last film, the big budget production A Farewell to Arms (1957) starring Jones and Rock Hudson, was ill received. A Farewell to Arms is a 1957 American Drama film directed by Charles Vidor. Rock Hudson (November 17 1925 &ndash October 2 1985 was an American Film and Television Actor, recognised as a romantic leading man during But in 1954, he ventured successfully into television, producing a two hour extravaganza called Light's Diamond Jubilee, which, in true Selznick fashion, made TV history by being telecast simultaneously on all networks.

Death

Selznick died in 1965 following several heart attacks, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately-owned Cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles, in the United States. Glendale ( is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States.

Personal life

Selznick married Irene Gladys Mayer, daughter of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, in 1930. Irene Mayer Selznick ( April 2, 1907 - October 10, 1990) was an American Theatrical producer. Louis Burt Mayer (born Lazar Meir July 4, 1884 &ndash October 29, 1957) was an early Film producer, most They divorced in 1948. They had two sons, Daniel Selznick and Jeffrey Selznick. He became interested in actress Jennifer Jones, who was then married to actor Robert Hudson Walker, and persuaded her to divorce him; he married her in 1949. Robert Hudson Walker ( October 13 1918  &ndash August 28 1951) was an American Actor. They had one daughter, Mary Jennifer Selznick, who committed suicide in 1975. Selznick's brother Myron Selznick became one of the most powerful agents in Hollywood, defining the profession for those that followed. Myron Selznick ( October 5, 1898 – March 23, 1944) was an American Film producer and talent agent. He died in 1944.

Legacy

In addition to his stellar filmography, Selznick had a keen instinct for new talent and will be remembered for introducing American movie audiences to Fred Astaire, Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Vivien Leigh, Louis Jourdan, and Alfred Hitchcock. Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 &ndash June 22, 1987) was an American Academy Award This article is about the French actor for the Musician see Louis Jordan. Selznick continued to be a larger-than-life Hollywood presence right up to the end of his life. A fascinating study in contrasts, this passionate, creative, obsessive product of the motion picture business remains an integral part of film-making history.

Despite his brilliance and undoubtable dedication to film-making, Selznick is considered to be the stereotypical version of the film producer to whom his modern equivalents are often compared - one who constantly interfered with the creative process of film-making and earned as many enemies as friends. Alfred Hitchcock, whose film Spellbound was edited on Selznick's insistence, grew resentful of his nature and decided to produce his own films from Notorious onwards. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 Spellbound ( 1945) is a psychological mystery thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Notorious ( 1946) is a thriller directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman as Selznick also battled with Carol Reed during the production of The Third Man and edited the film for its American release. For the New York weathercaster see Carol Reed (weather broadcaster. The Third Man ( is an award-winning British Film noir directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Perhaps the most famous example of his interference was during the production of Powell and Pressburger's Gone to Earth starring his wife Jennifer Jones. The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, made a series of influential Gone to Earth ( 1950) is a film by the British -based director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. After production, Selznick disliked the film and removed almost an entire third of it for its American release, under the title The Wild Heart. Selznick lost a court case with Powell & Pressburger to control all versions of the film but he retained control of the American release so he proceeded to cut and change various sections back in Hollywood.

However, it is generally conceded that had Selznick not been such a meddlesome perfectionist, his best films would not have been the masterpieces they were. One memorable example, revealed in the book Memo From David O. Selznick, concerned the 1940 film Rebecca. When he was submitted the screenplay for approval, Selznick was shocked to discover that Alfred Hitchcock, the film's director, had allowed Daphne du Maurier's original novel to be changed so that it was virtually unrecognizable, even to the point of introducing unnecessarily comic scenes not in the book. Daphne du Maurier Lady Browning DBE ( 13 May, 1907 – 19 April, 1989) (ˈdæfnɪ du ˈmɒɹieɪ was a British The furious Selznick wrote Hitchcock a blistering memo, and forced Hitchcock to remain faithful to the novel.

For his indelible contribution to the motion picture industry, David O. Selznick has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a Sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood Los Angeles California, USA, that , in front of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt hotel.

Film library

After Selznick's death, his estate sold the rights to a majority of his post-1935 films to ABC (now part of Disney/Buena Vista), although MGM retained the rights to Gone with the Wind (today part of the Turner Entertainment library), and 20th Century Fox still holds rights to the remake of A Farewell to Arms. The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. Also see general Walt Disney Studios or Buena Vista. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is a motion picture and television feature Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American dramatic - romantic - War film adapted from Margaret Mitchell 's 1936 Turner Entertainment Company Inc is an American media company founded by Ted Turner.

Academy Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ Selznick, David O. Spellbound ( 1945) is a psychological mystery thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Since You Went Away is a 1944 Film distributed by United Artists. The Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award is awarded periodically at the Academy Awards ceremonies to "Creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American dramatic - romantic - War film adapted from Margaret Mitchell 's 1936 A Star Is Born ( 1937) is a romantic Drama film produced by David O A Tale of Two Cities is a 1935 film directed by Jack Conway and Robert Z (2000). Memo from David O. Selznick. New York: Modern Library, 3. ISBN 0-375-75531-4.  
  2. ^ Memo from David O. Selznick, p. 423.

External links

Turner Classic Movies ( TCM) is a cable television channel featuring commercial -free classic movies mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner
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